‘couldn’t you have loved me more’

Roadside Graves are a band from Metuchen, NJ. They are an americana/alt-country act made up of seven lifelong friends. They have been making music for almost ten years now, but it was 2010‘s Liv Tylerthat got my attention for the first time. You Won’t Be Happy with Me was one of my favorite EPs last year and I have been looking forward to their next full length for quite some time.

We Can Take Care of Ourselves is a concept album inspired by the 1965 novel The Outsiders, but that’s not really important. The tracks here could just as easily be autobiographical — stories about John and his boys growing up in Jersey — as they could be about the adventures of Ponyboy and the rest of the Curtis brothers. Knowledge of the Greasers and the Socs is not a prerequisite to enjoying this collection of ‘strong as oak’ americana. Give this album some time — give it time to soak in — give it time to stain your soul like a heavy lacquer.